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Monday, December 29, 2014

This little girl loves nature. She especially loves picking flowers. I snapped a photo of her while we were taking a break from biking one day and it's one of my faves of her because she's just sitting and taking it all in. I used the Gossamer Blue December Main kit to document this moment.

I loved this background paper by Any Tangerine for American Crafts and just knew it had to be used but I also knew I had to keep it simple so I just added a few circles behind, around and above the photo.

It came together super quick and it was soo easy that I feel like I cheated but I LOVE it!
Thanks for stopping by today.

Monday, December 22, 2014

I realize that it's not quite Christmas yet and the New Year is a little over a week away but I just had to share this layout I created (and can be seen on the American Crafts blog today). We celebrated the new year as a family, with photo booth props, poppers, confetti, sparkling grape juice and more. Celebrating the New Year with little ones exudes a new level of excitement. We had fun with confetti this last New Years and this photo really captured the pure joy.

How to: Using white cardstock as your base, adhere the gold dot vellum paper to the top 1/2 of the page. Adhere the Little Things paper to the bottom 1/2 of the page. Add a 1 1/2" border using the Little Things B side of the paper above the seam. Adhere the gold scallop border over the 1 1/2" border. Stitch the papers along the seams. Hand cut the banners from the Ooh La La paper and adhere to the top of the page. Add a pleather bow in the upper right where the banners connect. Scatter enamel dots like confetti over some of the gold vellum dots.Create a photo mat/frame from coordinating papers, including the gold dot vellum. Cut a chalkboard frame from the Chalkboard paper pad. Journal with a gold pen and embellish to your liking. Add a fun and flirty title by mixing alphas.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

When it comes to Christmas cards, I'm more of a Christmas tags kind of girl. I just love the look they add to the overall packaging / gift giving experience. Using the same tags as a base and similar types of embellishments (die cuts, doilies) makes it easier to create pretty little tags quickly.

Merry Christmas Tag

Cut your background paper to the width and desired length for your tag and adhere to the tag. Add a scallop border to the top and bottom of the background paper. Add a die cut sentiment over a gold doily and adhere to the tag. Top with additional embellishments as you please.

Joy Tag

Cut your background paper to the width and desired length and adhere to the tag. Add gold glitter tape to the top and bottom of the background paper. Add a die cut sentiment over a gold doily and add Gold Zazz! glitter glue for more sparkle.

Christmas Tree Tag

Cut your background paper to the width and desired length for your tag and adhere to the tag. I chose a paper with sentiments printed since I was using a die cut that did not include a sentiment. Cut a small gold doily in half and wrap around so the ends meet in the center. Cover the back of the tag with a coordinating paper to cover the doily seams in the back.. Wrap the Christmas tree die cut with gold twine to resemble strands of tinsel on a tree. Adhere the tree to the tag and voila!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Hi friends! It's been a fabulous year working with Simple Stories and I am thankful for the opportunity to delight you all with inspiring projects using their incredible collections. For my final design team project, I am soo excited to show you a fun layout I created using the Snow Fun collection. It's doesn't get snowy here in the part of Texas where we live but this collection was PERFECT for documenting this year's Halloween, which was all about Frozen, for my my 6 year old.

How to: Cut and stitch the "Do you want to build a snowman?" card to the front of the "mountain top" card so that it creates a pocket for journaling. Add a frame around your photo using the Frostbite and dark blue papers from the Collection Kit. Apply the pocket and the photo in the middle of the "Flurries" background paper, slightly offset from each other.

Cut the letters "LET IT" from the Elements #1 paper and adhere it over the journaling pocket. To complete the title, cut a super sized "Go" using your electronic die cut machine. I used the offset function to create a white background to ensure the word "GO" stands out on the page. Lastly, decorate the pre-printed snowflakes with enamel dots, brads and other embellishments.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

My kids love to count the days 'til Christmas, which we start doing right after Thanksgiving here in the States. The DIY Shop frames and the Be Merry collection were a perfect pairing for a Christmas Countdown DIY project.

How to: Cut an 8.5"x8.5" block of wood and paint it black. Distress the edges. Cut your background paper to 8"x8" and adhere to the wood block using ModPodge or the adhesive of your choice. Apply glitter tape around the border of the paper to serve as a frame. Next, add a colored frame from the DIY Shop collection and embellish around the frame with die cuts. Cut the words "Days 'til Christmas" in a bold color that will stand out against your background paper. I cut my words to fit into a 3"x6" space. Last but not least, start your daily countdown and enjoy!

Friday, December 12, 2014

Hello friends. I've been playing with the December Gossamer Blue kits and wanted to show you a fun way to change the original design of a paper and transform it into something new by giving it a little twist.

I just love the Gramercy Road West Seventh paper included in this month's kit but I wanted to add a little white space to the page and change the downward motion of the paper. I also didn't want the green in the paper because it clashed with the green in my photo.

To do this, I simply cut along the edge of the chevron design where the blue and green met and then cut it again with my remaining piece of my paper, removing the green color again. That left me with two large triangle pieces to use as my background. I mentioned earlier that I wanted to change the direction so I lined one up in the top right and then flipped the other over and adhered it to the bottom left of the page.

I framed my photo and then placed it directly under the top right triangle.

I then placed my title above the bottom left triangle. I chose to use a super sized heart as my "O" in the work LOVE. I placed the photo and title like this in an attempt to draw the eye to the most important bits of the page.

I sprinkled the layout with rub-on clouds, hearts and stitching and added cork, wood, sequins and cardstock embellishments to bring it even more to life. I love the transformation and I hope you do too!

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Hi everyone and welcome to the blog hop that's all about documenting your December Memories. I am especially excited about about it this year because Lori and her talented artists at Gossamer Blue did an amazing job with the kits, creating EXCLUSIVE papers and embellishments and an incredible album while mixing in the best of the best Christmas goodies from several other manufacturers. Take a look at what's in this kit...

Amazing, right? And it all comes packaged in with love and care.

Merry early Christmas to meeeeeeeeeee! I did not see a "Do Not Open Until" date so I dove right in and created my album cover.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

I thought
it'd be fun to create a DIY decor element throughout the month that can
also be a fun activity for the family for Thanksgiving. During
Thanksgiving week, we'll each write something on a leaf that we are Thankful
for and then read them aloud on Thanksgiving day.

I created this tutorial for the American Crafts blog today and I figure, why not share it here too???

Step 1:
Gather some little tree limbs from the great outdoors. Cut leaves and circles
approximately 1.5" wide. Make sure to add punched circles at the top.

Step 2:
Bundle the limbs together and wrap with twine. Insert them into a pretty vase.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Today I'm highlighting a really cool concept from Simple Stories. I'm sure you've all read about and seen the new Life Documented planners and collection and are just as excited about it as I am. I had a strong need and desire to organize my life and I'm am just overjoyed to have such a great solution now!

While I was putting my planner together to keep track of all family activities, do my meal planning, track deadlines, I came across the Planning Inserts. Imagine a light bulb going off. No, even better...the clouds cleared and birds starting chirping. I was that excited.

Do you see that cool little grid in the photo and the section below to plan out your photos, supplies, ideas, journaling???? Genius! I stopped everything I was doing and started sketching. Take a look at how I used this cool feature of the planners.

I started by selecting the photos I wanted to scrap. Then, I pulled out my Life Documented supplies and started sorting through them, looking for the perfect papers and embellishments. I jotted them down along with a few other items I knew I wanted to use. I didn't have any memorabilia this time. We ended up donating my daughter's hair to those in need but once we get the confirmation letter back, I will add it to the page somewhere, maybe behind.

I love that I can use this to plan everything out in advance so when I'm ready to scrap, I have my plan and I'm ready to go.

So, let's see how it all transpired into an actual layout...

I really wanted to use the awesome paper with all the words. The words were soo fitting for what my daughter was doing. She grew out her hair and it took her a while to make the decision to cut it but she did and I am soo proud of her. She felt soo wonderful knowing that she was helping another child in need. It was definitely a FABULOUS, EPIC, AWESOME thing for her to do.

I toned down the words on the paper by adding gesso and then I added the graphic section to the bottom, lining the dividing line with tags and banners.

I created the title using a combo of hand cut and die cut words. I am still deciding what exactly I want to journal about but I do know it will go right there in the empty section near the title.

So, if you are thinking of getting one of these incredible planners, I highly recommend you get your hands on one now because I just know these will be flying off the shelves. It is that amazing!

Monday, November 17, 2014

It's place cards week on the American Crafts blog. My instinct was to create some fall-ish ones for Thanksgiving but I really wanted to do something a little different. I figured, place cards don't have to be for special
occasions only. In our house, every new day is a reason to celebrate so
why not serve breakfast in style?

I decided to jazz breakfast up a little
bit one day. I didn't actually create a grand meal but I did serve
pancakes, bacon and powdered donuts in style. I found some adorable milk
bottles at Target the other day and just knew they'd be perfect for an idea I
had. I quickly ran over to the paper plates section and found some clear
plastic plates. The idea was coming together very quickly throughout the aisles
of Target!

Measure the inside bottom of the
plate and cut a circle out of coordinating scrap paper. Adhere to the bottom of
the clear plate using Mod Podge.

Create little banners by running
coordinating paper through your manual die machine, using the banner die in the
new Shimelle collection. Add a contrasting colored paper behind the heart
to make it stand out.

Download a feather cutting file and place your
names inside the feather prior to cutting it out. Cut and adhere to the
inside of the banner. Wrap around your straw and staple together.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Hi everyone! I'm thrilled to bring you the second edition of the monthly Gossamer Blue Design Team Blog Hop.

We had just visited a local pumpkin patch that has an amazing flower garden. My little princess just happens to love and I mean LOVE flowers so naturally, we took a stroll through the garden. These beautiful magenta flowers drew us in and it was so fun to watch her inspect them all (and smell them too).

The flower paper included in this month's kit was just too perfect for these photos. Admittedly, I usually shy away from papers like this because I find them harder to create with, or I fussy cut it. I embraced it though and using my gold pen from a previous kit, I went to town, adding a little more doodling.

I kept it rather simple around my photo, using a grid type design. I doodled on the flower paper around the photos as well. I added a title above and journaling on the back to complete the layout.

Monday, November 10, 2014

I saw the new Amy Tangerine STITCHED collection from American Crafts and I thought it would be fun to create a simple mini journal to document life's little moments that I am grateful for each month. Now I just have to decide whether to go back and fill it in for 2014 or save for 2015.

How to: Cut the Felted paper into 3 strips so that the months stay intact. Accordion fold the papers. Adhere the edges together using washi tape on the back so that all months flow together from January through December. Apply adhesive to the very edges of the back side of the folded edges. Fold it all up tight. Cut a 4"x12" strip of paper to use as your cover. Adhere the Felted paper with the months to the inside spine of your cover. Poke 3 holes with your paper piercer and add embroidery floss to help secure it together even more. Leave enough embroidery floss to wrap around the cover to tie closed. Add the "GRATEFUL" sentiment to top cover. I left enough on the right side so that it could fold over as a cute little flap.

Friday, October 31, 2014

I created this super fun home decor piece and it's been hanging above my mantle all month. I've been dying to cast a spell and show it to you all but I had to wait until it went up on the American Crafts blog and that happened today so...now I can share it with you all. I just LOVE it and I hope you do too!

How to: Use your favorite banners from the DIY Shop collection. Cut paper to fit the inside of the banners. I used the same subtle paper on all the banners. Next, cut 2.5 inch round circles out of a light colored paper. Add gold glitter around the edges and set aside to dry. Cut 2 – 3 banners/flags in colors that can be layered over each other. Cut them in various lengths and widths. My largest banner is 1.5x5 inches. Adhere them to the background paper. Cut 3 inch rosettes. Adhere the glitter circles on the top and add them to the middle of the banner. Lastly, cut 2 inch letters to spell out your word or phrase. Use the twine from the DIY Shop banners to string the banner. Display proudly!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Halloween is almost here and you know what that means? In our neighborhood it means surprising your neighbors with "BOO" treats. I made this cute little card to accompany the treats that we are leaving our neighbor friends.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Okay...I may have freaked out just a teeny weeny little bit when Becky emailed me a couple of months ago and asked me to guest design for Basic Grey this month. Choosing the collection was a hard one because I love them all but ultimately the Aurora collection just spoke to me. Perhaps because it reminded me so much of our trip up the mountain to the observatory in Hawaii to see the sky full of stars.

Anyway, I created 2 layouts and two cards, all of which are on the Basic Grey blog TODAY!!! There's also a little Baker's Dozen Q&A by yours truly. I'd love to have you visit over there and tell me what your favorite is! Here's a sneak at what you'll see and then keep reading to see one of them in detail.

Can you tell I had a lot of fun?!?! These are some of my fave projects, for sure!!! Again, you can see them in full on the Basic Grey blog.

I don't show my cards here too often and I'm not sure why. So, how about I do that today, seeing as how it's the first photo in my collage?

How to:

This card all started with the You are my UNIVERSE card included in the ephemera pack. After being married to my hubby for 12 years, we are kind of sort of going through our honeymoon phase again so this card was so completely fitting. I liked that the card had a semi circle above the constellations.

I created star garland and strung it over the semi circle right over the card.

I adhered a festive little background right in the center of the card base and placed the decorated card over the top using foam dots.

Those triangle bits are clear acrylic and worked magically at the bottom.

So as not to ignore the top, I added a little border using the paper strip extra bit from the bottom of a 12x12 sheet of pattern paper. I added a little stitching and voila!

This is my personal blog, where I share personal life events & crafts created by me, Heather Leopard. Below is a list of manufacturers/companies (in alphabetical order) I am currently working for, either as a designer and/or in a marketing capacity:

While I am compensated by these companies, either monetarily or in product, I always say what I truly think of their products. The views and opinions expressed here on my blog are solely my own. I will not recommend something that I don't personally use and enjoy. The projects found here on my blog, The Spotted Leopard, have been created using products I have purchased and/or products I have gotten for free. I am not required to disclose, on my blog, if the projects shown were created using products I received for free or if they were my personal purchases. If you have any questions, please contact me at heather@heatherleopard.com

All content (designs, photos/images, creative how-tos/instructions, etc.) posted on this blog are my original creations, unless otherwise noted. The content shared on this blog is for my personal use only and may not be re-posted, blogged, distributed or sold in any form without specific permission from Heather Leopard. Please respect my work and if it inspires you or your project, please give credit where credit is due by linking back to this blog. I don't mind if you copy my work for your own personal use because it inspired you, but please don't copy my work or anyone’s work for that matter, if you intend to publish it or claim it as your own. That’s just not cool and I’m sure you wouldn’t want it to happen to you either.